Sunday, April 17, 2016

Monsanto-Gawad Kalinga Village Rises in Sara, Iloilo

Additional 24 beneficiaries are looking forward to safe new homes in Sara, Iloilo as Monsanto Philippines prepares to turn over the completed housing units to GawadKalinga Community Development Foundation, Inc. (GK).This is the second phase of the Monsanto-GK housing initiative in the Municipality of Sara, where an initial 30 core shelters were completed last February 2015. The housing unitswere built to withstand strong winds of possible super typhoons in the future.

The housing project is part of a community recovery program by Monsanto-Philippines and GawadKalinga for farming communities affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda and Typhoon Ruby that hit parts of Iloilo Province. The Monsanto Fund donated a total of PhP16.8 million to improve the lives of 2,200 farmers in the province.

“We partnered with GawadKalinga because we were aiming for our project to have a holistic approach towards achieving our beneficiaries’ overall well-being. GawadKalingaincorporates livelihood development programs and values formation training in their housing programs,” said Monsanto’s Corporate Engagement Lead Chat Garrido-Ocampo.

Ocampo noted that it has been more than two years since Typhoon Yolanda hit Sara, Iloilo and the residents have successfully rebuilt their lives. “Monsanto has been one with the community immediately after the aftermath of the supertyphoon and we are happy to see positive developments. This just proves time and again that when there is unity combined with the indomitable spirit of the Filipino people, there is nothing that we cannot achieve,” Ocampo said.